Friday P.M. Report

Forbes ranks Minneapolis-St. Paul No. 3 market for young professionals: The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is No. 3 in this year’s ranking of America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals, published June 17 by Forbes magazine. The report places Minneapolis behind only first-place Houston and Washington, D.C., among U.S. metropolitan areas with more than 1 million people. Read full story

Minnesota's jobs improvement best in nation: Minnesota's unemployment picture improved more than any other state between May 2009 and May 2010, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report, issued Friday, showed that Minnesota's unemployment rate dropped from 8.4 percent to 7 percent in the one-year span, making Minnesota one of three states — along with Vermont and Oregon — to see a drop of 1 percentage point or more. Read full story

$20 million upgrade at Minnesota Zoo brings penguins, expansion: The Minnesota Zoo will break ground Monday on its new $20 million “Heart of the Zoo” project. The improvements include a penguin exhibit, a new educational center that will be designed for the thousands of students and teachers who visit the zoo each year, and a new theater/learning center near the lobby that will connect the Zoo’s Tropics Trail with an existing trail dedicated to Minnesota-native animals.Read full story